Professor advises Parliament on how education can help young people become socially mobile

Expertise from Manchester Met is helping to build a brighter future for children at risk of missing out on education, employment and training opportunities.

Professor of Education and Employment Lisa Russell was invited to the House of Lords to give oral evidence to the Social Mobility Policy Committee on how to safeguard children against becoming what’s known as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

Alongside other leaders in the field of education and employment, Prof Russell shared her expert views on the barriers many NEET young people face when it comes to post-16 destinations, how to improve careers guidance to support them, and why a focus solely on maths and English exam grades can be unhelpful.

The increase in elective home education, a fragmented careers provision and the numbers of undiagnosed SEND children struggling in mainstream schools were also cited by Prof Russell as potential reasons for the increase in children who are NEET.

Speaking about the value of broadening academic subject requirements, Prof Russell told the committee: “One of the real barriers that many NEET young people face in any post-16 destination is getting GCSE maths and English. 

“A lot of repetition in the education system occurs. If you do not reach the level requirements at GCSE, you are forced to do maths and English, and that acts as a real barrier in terms of the pathway moving forward. We need to be thinking about an education system that helps people hop on and off it without trying to create barriers in its place.”

Prof Russell was speaking at the Social Mobility Policy Committee which was appointed to consider how educational and work opportunities could be better integrated to improve social mobility in the UK. 

Addressing the need for more joined-up careers advice for young people, she added: “Some people in our research dataset who are vulnerable to becoming NEET have been excluded from school but are interested in work. They need informed, independent advice in terms of where to go next, which is not happening in an equitable way at the moment across the country.”

Currently, 12.2% of the UK’s population are NEET, with 872,000 16 to 24 year-olds now out of work, education or training. This is nearly a quarter of a million more people than three years ago when NEET rates were at their lowest of 9.5%.

At the Committee hearing, Prof Russell shared her findings from the first national-level analysis of early intervention programmes in England for young people aged 14-16 who are at risk of becoming NEET.

Her research included 159 interviews with 81 young people identified as at risk of becoming NEET. Of them, 49% came from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, six were care experienced, and a further four were living in kinship care.

Speaking about how to support these children, Prof Russell added: “Qualifications matter, but the reality is that some of these young people are not in a place where they are able to sit down, study and learn. There is a question around perhaps increasing welfare provision in schools. You could put a welfare officer in every setting. 

“When we think about mental health issues, SEND, particularly undiagnosed SEND and issues around bullying, there is a huge case to think about the welfare of these young people. We should have a caring education system. Lots of our young people do not feel cared for by our current education system.”

The Social Mobility Policy Committee will present its findings in a report later this year.